Billy Joel said he can understand the thinking behind the idea that his signature song “Piano Man” is set in a gay bar.
He’d recently discovered the suggestion that the track’s narrator is a naive straight man who’s not sure what’s going on around him, which is why the regulars in the room ask him, “Man, what are you doin’ here?”
But the main argument centers on the lines about a conversation between a real estate salesman and a sailor.
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“There’s this new theory out there now that it’s actually about a gay bar,” Joel told NBC’s Today in a recent interview. “I [thought], ‘Oh I see how that could be.’ Paul’s talking to Davy who’s in the navy; he doesn’t have time for a wife.”
He explained that his original thinking behind Paul (“Now Paul is a real estate novelist / Who never had time for a wife”) was that he was too busy trying to write the Great American Novel to find romance.
Making a gesture that suggested the implications made sense, he said of the new idea: “It’s a whole theory – it’s very funny, actually!”
Sticking to the subject of the 1973 song from the album of the same name, Joel said: “At the time I was totally shocked that they wanted to put it out as a single. It’s in 6/8 time, which is a waltz,; it’s a long song; and the topic is a bit depressing. it didn’t go gold when it came out – but it got a lot of airplay.”
He added that “Piano Man” had always been a highlight of his record-setting 10-year residency at Madison Square Garden, joking: “I’ve watched people in the crowd. They know the lyrics so I’m following them! When the audience takes it over, I like that. I get to take a little break!”
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Joel went on to dismiss the idea of his retirement. “It doesn’t mean I’ll never play there again,” he said of the iconic New York concert hall. “It’s just the end of this run.
“I’m not gonna stop doing shows. That’s what I do. I asked a couple of contemporaries – Henley, Springsteen – ‘What are you gonna do now?’ They said the same thing: ‘Keep performing.’ Why? ‘Because that’s what I do.’ … Good idea!
“What else am I gonna do, stop doing shows, sit around and watch TV, [turn into] a vegetable? No, I don’t wanna do that.”
Watch Billy Joel’s ‘Piano Man’ Video
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For a guy who hasn’t released an album in over three decades, the Piano Man sure loves touring.
Gallery Credit: Mike Duquette